Am I Being Scammed?

[BobC]

I would check back with your local post office, and maybe get what documentation, names of who you talked with, and whatever else you can, to help verify and prove it was the seller who initiated the intercept and asked for the package to be sent back to him. You might also want to alert and share your story with the local postmaster as well, regarding this party's actions and possible scheme.

As soon as you said he accused you of wasting his time and money, he basically confirmed this is some scam or scheme on his part. As you stated, you had already paid him quickly and in full back on 1/5/23, so he already had full payment before shipping you the card. Exactly how then did that possibly cost him any money? And of course, the answer is it didn't. There's BS comment #1. And then to state you cost him time, what time? There's BS comment #2. You paid him up front and he went through the normal work and procedures to ship you the card, which is his duty and responsibility. If he's somehow trying to claim that an email he may have gotten and read, showing that the P.O. initially tried to deliver the package to you, is his reasoning and what he considers a waste of his time, there's obviously something else going on here.

And if I were you, I would immediately reach out to both Paypal and Ebay, and apprise them of your situation and this guy's unbelievably questionable actions. Something about what this guy is saying and doing makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. It may be that his idea of wasting his time and money relates to him having to contact your local post office, and then pay them to have the package sent back to him. Regardless, that is all on him, not you.

And what may be weirdest of all, if he was trying to run some scam from the start, the fact that the P.O. did come by your home to deliver the item, but you just weren't there at that time, is totally random and nothing this guy could have foreseen or ever planned on happening. Or was it? Just out of curiosity, in your emails and negotiations with this guy, did he ever ask, or did you ever mention, that you worked during the day so that you probably wouldn't be there to sign for the package when the P.O. would initially try to deliver it? And if so, maybe he played you for that info and then was expecting the P.O. email noting the failed delivery attempt, and then just waited to receive it so he could immediately jump in to get the card back from the P.O.

Only other thing I can think of is if it is possible that this guy maybe had some seller's remorse (and/or possibly got a better offer after initially agreeing to sell it and sent it off to you), and jumped on the opportunity to get the card back when he lucked out and you weren't there when the post office showed up. Regardless, would definitely file a card not received claim with Ebay on him as soon as you can, as well. Good luck, I hope you get all your money back. This was not a cheap card.

By the way, forgot to ask this. If you did buy this card through Ebay, how come it didn't go through their authentication process and get sent first to PSA to verify the slab hadn't been compromised? Because in that case, wouldn't the card have actually been sent to you by PSA then, and not by him, and therefore possibly make him unable to intercept and initiate the return of the card since he was not the one actually sending it to you then? I know a lot of people despise and do not want this Ebay authentication program, but this may be an instance where if it was used, it would have protected you and made sure you got the card you paid for. And if others opined that maybe this guy was just weird and super-paranoid, wouldn't him having the card go through Ebay's authentication program have added some additional security and safety for him as well? Again, good luck, and hope you quickly get all your money back.